Report: Samsung’s answer to Google Glass coming in 2014

Samsung is reportedly getting ready to introduce a wearable device that’s a bit like Google Glass at the IFA trade show later this year. That’s according to The Korea Times, but like any rumor about something that’s supposed to happen in about 8 months, it’s probably a good idea to take it with a grain of salt.

That doesn’t mean Samsung isn’t working on a wearable device that lets you view notifications, maps, web pages and other content without even moving your head — let alone taking a phone out of your pocket. There’s just a lot of time for things to change between now and September.

Google unveiled its Glass project nearly two years ago and at this point the only folks with Google Glass devices are developers and early adopters willing to spend $1500 to get their hands on a device that gets about 45 minutes of battery life if you actually try to use it to shoot videos.

While Google does plan to turn Glass into a commercial product at some point, it’s not clear how much it will cost, who the target market will be, or what kind of enhancements it will have by then.

Samsung, meanwhile, isn’t a stranger to the idea of charging a premium price for a product with no proven market. The Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch is one of the most powerful… and most expensive smartwatches on the market at the moment, with a list price of around $300. But that’s still a fifth the price of a Google Glass Explorer kit.

Hopefully Samsung’s upcoming smart glass device will also be a lot cheaper than Google Glass.

Korea Times reports the product, which may be called Samsung Galaxy Glass, will be a wearable headset with a transparent lens that lets you display alerts, answer phone calls, and listen to music… just like Google Glass.

Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

I have been reading on other sites how this will be competition for Google’s glass. I don’t see it. Google wants access to more user data. Wearables is a way for that to happen. Does not matter who sells the hardware, Google wins. I bet Google is doing all it can to help Samsung make the best product possible…as long as it still uses Google services.

Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Eh, no offence to samsung but I’ve found a few too many bugs in their software to trust them with something like this. Case in point, my galaxy note 1 where the flash firmware was messed up and had about a 5% chance with certain operations to wipe absolutely everything and brick the phone, same issue as on the galaxy S2. Second thing, the note 3’s handwriting recognition where they used external software and forgot to renew their license breaking this pretty essential bit of software for everyone.

That said, they make great if sometimes a little unadventurous hardware, if it’s samsung hardware and google software I’d buy one on the spot (already willing to buy glass but I didn’t get a slot 🙁 )